A bubbly José Mourinho said his Internazionale side are going through a moment of "joy, enthusiasm and confidence" after beating Bologna 2-1 to extend their Serie A lead to 12 points ahead of Tuesday's Champions League clash with Manchester United.

As the team now seek to prove their worth in Europe, Mourinho said his chief concern was "to pass on to the players the same joy I feel now. The rest is tactics and that is not a problem." He also threw down a challenge to Sir Alex Ferguson, warning "United are not better than us".

Despite a sluggish first-half performance and a Bologna equaliser after Inter's first goal, from Esteban Cambiasso, Mourinho drew optimism from his players' second-half resilience and teenager Mario Balotelli's winning goal: "Most great teams would have settled for a draw, but this team has my character."